WASHINGTON (Sputnik) —The release noted that Human Rights Watch has documented kidnappings, executions and torture against LGBT individuals by al-Sadr's Mahdi Army since 2009.
"State and non-state actors in Iraq should heed the prominent Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's July 2016 statement banning violence against those who do not conform to gender norms," the release stated.
Human Rights Watch also called on al-Sadr to hold his commanders accountable for violating his stated ban on violence towards LGBT individuals.
"Iraq's government should take its own measures to ensure the attacks on LGBT people are punished and the LGBT committee should actively monitor and report on human rights abuses… and advise the government on concrete steps to protect LGBT people from violence and discrimination," the release concluded.
Additional, the release called on the Iraqi legislature to decriminalize extra-marital sexual relations.
